Attitudes and Purchase Intentions Toward Food Made From Insects–Measurement Model

Description

The Attitudes and Purchase Intentions Toward Food Made From Insects–Measurement Model (Mikulec et al., 2024) was developed to assess consumer attitudes and intentions regarding food products that contain insects. This model was specifically designed for a study examining how university students in Poland perceive and are willing to purchase insect-based food products. The model comprises 34 items derived from other studies, covering six key variables, such as health and environmental attitudes, as well as specific attributes of novel foods. Data was gathered from a purposeful sample of university students in Poland, and results from internal consistency testing and exploratory factor analysis were included. This model provides a robust measure of attitudes toward insect-based foods in the context of food neophobia and consumer behavior.

Author

• Mikulec, Anna T. ORCID
• Platta, Anna M.
• Radzymińska, Monika
• Ruszkowska, Millena ORCID
• Mikulec, Karolina
• Suwała, Grzegorz ORCID
• Kowalski, Stanisław
• Kowalczewski, Przemysław Łukasz ORCID
• Nowicki, Marcin ORCID

Purpose

The purpose of the model is to gauge consumer attitudes toward and purchase intentions regarding food products that contain insect-derived ingredients. It serves as a valuable tool for understanding consumer behavior in the context of food innovation and sustainability.

Construct

The model explores the following constructs:

• Health Attitudes (HA)
• Environmental Attitudes (EA)
• Attitude Towards Novel Food (NF)
• Attributes of Novel Food:
  • Organoleptic traits (CA1)
  • Health quality (CA2)
  • Functional traits (CA3)
• Attitudes Towards Food Made from Insects (ATT)
• Intention to Purchase Food Made from Insects (PI)

Instrument Type

Inventory/Questionnaire

Items of the “Attitudes and Purchase Intentions Toward Food Made From Insects”

• Number of Items: 34
• Rating Scale: 5-point Likert scale
• Format: Electronic

Reliability and Validity

Internal Consistency

• Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.82 to 0.94, demonstrating good reliability across the various scales.

Validity

• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA):
  • Removed outliers and uncorrelated items, including items 3.8, 3.9, and 3.10 from the NF scale.
  • The remaining items showed strong internal consistency with α > 0.7.
  • Factor loadings were between 0.65 and 0.97, indicating good validity.
  • The model fit was validated with RMSEA values not exceeding 0.06, a CFI of 1 (indicating perfect model fit), and a TLI value of 1.

Test Methodology

The tool’s reliability and validity were assessed through internal consistency, exploratory factor analysis, and measurement modeling.

Items of “Attitudes and Purchase Intentions Toward Food Made From Insects”

This section outlines the variables and their corresponding measuring items used to assess attitudes and purchase intentions toward food made from insects. The variables are: Health Attitudes (HA), Environmental Attitudes (EA), Attitude Towards Novel Food (NF), Attributes of Novel Food-Organoleptic Traits (CA1), Attributes of Novel Food-Health Quality (CA2), Attributes of Novel Food-Functional Traits (CA3), Attitudes Towards Food Made From Insects (ATT), and Intention to Purchase Food Made From Insects (PI).

Variables and Measuring Items

The following items are used to measure each variable:

1. Health Attitudes (HA)

• 1.1. The natural character of food products is an important quality attribute to me.

• 1.2. I try to buy organic food products.

• 1.3. I try to avoid food products containing food additives.

• 1.4. The quality certificate of purchased food is important to me.

• 1.5. The natural character of a production method is important to me.
  Source: Kornher et al. (2019)

2. Environmental Attitudes (EA)

• 2.1. When buying food, I try to pay attention to the fact how its production affects the natural environment.

• 2.2. I try to avoid food products, whose production has adverse effects on the natural environment.

• 2.3. I am interested in the impact of food production on the natural environment.
  Source: Verbeke (2015) and Roberts (1996); Modlinska (2021)

3. Attitude Towards Novel Food (NF)

• 3.1. I am constantly trying new and different foods.

• 3.2. I do not trust new, unknown foods.

• 3.3. I do not try unknown foods.

• 3.4. I like foods from various national cuisines (ethnic food).

• 3.5. During parties/when I am out, I enjoy trying new foods.

• 3.6. I eat almost everything.

• 3.7. I like trying foods that are new to me.

• 3.8. The so-called “healthy food” looks too weird for me to eat.

• 3.9. I am afraid to eat something I have not eaten before.

• 3.10. I am very picky about the food I eat.
  Source: Pliner and Hobden (1992)

4. Attributes of Novel Food – Organoleptic Traits (CA1)

• 4.1. Attractive taste.

• 4.2. Attractive aroma.

• 4.3. Attractive appearance.
  Source: Kornher et al. (2019)

5. Attributes of Novel Food – Health Quality (CA2)

• 4.4. High nutritional value.

• 4.5. Health claims.

• 4.6. Nutritional claims.

6. Attributes of Novel Food – Functional Traits (CA3)

• 4.7. Various assortment and availability in retail.

• 4.8. Package size and attractiveness.

• 4.9. Convenience of use.

• 4.10. Availability of recipes on blogs and websites.

7. Attitudes Towards Food Made From Insects (ATT)

• 5.1. I find buying novel food containing insects a good idea.

• 5.2. I find buying novel food containing insects a wise choice.

• 5.3. I like the idea of buying novel, innovative food containing insects.

• 5.4. Buying novel, innovative food containing insects would be nice.
  Source: Wang et al. (2013)

8. Intention to Purchase Food Made From Insects (PI)

• 6.1. I would try dishes made from insects or with insect ingredients if I had the opportunity.

• 6.2. I am interested in eating dishes or food/food products made from insects in the near future.

• 6.3. If a “novel innovative food” appears on the market containing edible insects (fresh, frozen, dried, powdered, e.g., flour), which has such attributes as: reduction of CO2 emissions, nutritional claims, health claims, attractive taste, and high nutritional value I would be willing to buy it.

• 6.4. I am willing to buy new food containing edible insects.

• 6.5. I will make an effort to buy foods containing insect protein in the near future.
  Source: Kornher et al. (2019); Lee et al. (2010)

Scale

Respondents express their level of approval or disapproval of the items listed using a 5-point Likert scale as described in the table below:

Note: Respondents express their level of approval or disapproval of the items listed using a 5-point Likert scale where the values 1,2 mean: definitely no, no; value 3 denotes: I do not know, I have no opinion; and values 4,5 correspond to answers: yes, definitely yes.

Reference

Mikulec, A. T., Platta, A. M., Radzymińska, M., Ruszkowska, M., Mikulec, K., Suwała, G., Kowalski, S., Kowalczewski, P. Ł., & Nowicki, M. (2024). Attitudes and purchase intentions of Polish university students towards food made from insects—A modelling approach. PLoS ONE, 19(3), Article e0300871. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300871